Life Ever After
by PiperFox
Summary: Formerly: Life after High School. Characters: PeterClaireOthers. RomanceAngstDrama. Set a few years in the future and incorporating the events of Season One.


**Working Title: **Life after High School

**Summary: **Romance/Angst/Drama: Claire/Peter/Others.

**Rating: **K+

**Timeline: **Set after Season One, a few years into the future.

**Disclaimer: **I own none of the familiar characters or familiar dialogue; they belong to NBC & the show's creators etc. Anything else might just be of my own creation.

**Prologue: The End of the Beginning.**

_Kirby Plaza:_

The stage was set. Eight Heroes fighting the good fight for what was to become a combined effort to save the world. First, they had to save a little girl, an uncle, a brother, a lover. Working together, side by side at the end of the beginning.

For Peter Petrelli, it was to be the end of his mission. He had to die to save New York. But, now, as he faced down the barrel of a gun, he contemplated what might have been. His thoughts drifts from Simone, his lost lover to Nathan, his brother and betrayer, and then to his niece Claire. Sweet Claire. He would never get to truly know her or see her grow up. He watched the gun shake in her hand.

"Do it . . . Do it! You're the only one, Claire."

Tears ran down her pretty face as she struggled with the idea of killing her uncle. She'd only just found her family, her real family.

"Tell me there's another way please . . ." She sobbed.

"Kill me! There is no other way."

Suddenly, from out of the darkness Nathan landed between them.

"Yes there is, Claire. The future isn't written in stone," he declared, as he lowered the gun she held.

"I took his power Nathan. I can't control it. I can't do anything."

"I'm not leaving you Peter." Nathan strode confidently towards his brother. "There's another way to end this and you know it."

Peter shook his head. "I'm can't let you die."

"And I can't let everyone else." Nathan looked around the Plaza. The faces of the Heroes were transfixed by the events unfolding around them. "You saved the Cheerleader, so we could save the world."

"I love you Nathan."

"I love you too. You ready?"

Just like that, the brothers were gone. The nuclear explosion ripped across the skies, as the remaining Heroes watched in awe.

"What happened to them?" Niki Sanders asked sadly.

No one answered, because nobody knew. But the helplessness was soon replaced by a shared sense of purpose and optimism. Yes, there was hope for the future.

_Petrelli Residence, New York:_

Angela Petrelli was in her husband's office when the paintings arrived. "These are the last of the group?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good."

She gingerly sifted through the canvases examining the images carefully before something caught her eye. A small portrait. The image portrayed was that of a man and a woman in passionate embrace. They were blended together as one, entwined and silhouetted in the radiant halo of a crimson sun. The woman was fair, her golden curls cascading over her shoulders and naked torso. The man was lean, but muscular with unruly dark hair. Abruptly, she tore at the picture, shredding it into several pieces before finally throwing it into the fire. Red hot flames curled around the paper. Gasping for breath she watched as it disintegrated, the picture lost forever. She looked around the room. _"They have to be destroyed. All of them."_

She had returned to the city five days after the explosion. Things had not gone as she had planned and there was a significant amount of cleaning up to do. Fortunately, the US government had already covered up the source of the explosion by issuing a statement claiming it was a freak atmospheric event that would only happen once in a trillion years. The media, of course, took every inch of misinformation and pounded into cold hard fact. There would be conspiracy theories, but without evidence she knew nothing would every come of it. She could not shake, however, the feeling that events of that night would pique the interest of a new enemy. Her family was under the spotlight in more ways than one. They would have to be very careful from now on.

Nathan and Peter surfaced two days after the explosion and the family held a meeting. Nathan would continue his term in office as intended. Deciding what was next for Peter was the hard part. Everyone knew the risk of exposure was too great. Peter insisted on helping Dr Mohinder Suresh continue his work in secret. It was too dangerous for him to do it alone. Angela had agreed this new task for Peter on one condition - that he give up his current life. _"It may not be forever, Peter. She'll be safer if she thinks you're dead and when the threat passes, you'll be able to come back to New York." _

"_You mean when you finished using Nathan as your puppet." _Peter was bitter, but he had reluctantly consented. It was also decided, that Claire would remain in the care of her adoptive parents. Claire's adoptive father, Noah Bennett arranged new identities for the family. Angela had agreed when he informed her he wasn't going to tell her where they were going. It was a symbolic gesture at best; they both knew she had the resources to find them.

The other Heroes picked up the pieces of their lives after the explosion. Mohinder Suresh was grateful to have found a willing sidekick in Peter. He became an unofficial adoptive parent to Molly. After all, he had saved her once and their bond was strong. Mohinder continued to keep in touch with the others and while it was risky they arranged visits from time to time.

Matt Parkman survived the gunshot wounds inflicted by Sylar in the fight at Kirby Plaza. Upon his recovery he successfully trained as a detective. Sadly, the success did not carry over to his personal life, he and his wife divorced several months after the explosion.

For Niki Sanders and her son, Micah, it was a familiar occurrence. Packing up their lives, and moving again. At one time, Niki thought family was the only thing that was real in her life. Now, she knew there were others like her. It was the strength of knowledge that made it easier form them to carry on after the death of D.L.

Hiro Nakamura teleported to somewhere near Kyoto, 1671. The story of what happened there remains between himself and his friend, Ando. Upon returning to the present, Hiro settled in his native Japan with an unknown woman. His faith in destiny continued, stronger than ever, and while he never did know where it would take him next, he knew it his heart it would not be long before the Heroes assembled again.


End file.
